‘Quintessential Onib Olmedo’ in widow’s private collection

Galleria Duemila will present The Quintessential Onib from July 2 to 15 at the fourth level, SM Megamall A, Ortigas Complex, Pasig City. The commemorative art exhibit on the occasion of Olmedo’s sixth death anniversary features representative samples of his finest works from his widow’s private collection.

The opening night cocktails will be held on July 2 at 6 p.m., with Dr. Jaime C. Laya, former chair of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and Gina Barte, former CCP Museum director, as guests of honor at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Onib Olmedo is acclaimed by critics as the leading figurative expressionist artist of his generation, whose paintings celebrate the triumph of the human spirit in the face of pain and anguish. A multi-awarded artist, he earned international recognition for his works, winning an honorable mention at the prestigious international art competition in Cagnes Sur Mer, France in 1992 – the very first Filipino to be accorded such a distinction.

Critics have asserted Olmedo played a significant role in the history of Philippine art. At the summit of his career, he succeeded in elevating the art consciousness of Filipinos to a level that went beyond the appreciation of paintings that were merely ornamental. Moreover, he continues to exert a vast influence on the young Filipino artists of the 21st century whose works show that they have been inspired by their icon’s worldview and his distinctively expressionistic style.

During his lifetime, the artist became known for the use of inkwash as an artistic medium. Two of his inkwash paintings from the 1990s are featured in the Galleria Duemila art exhibit.

In "The Long Wait," Olmedo depicts the solitary figure of an old woman positioned at the center of the painting, amid a background of intricately-designed native chairs, carefully laid out bricks, and a corrugated iron roof overhead, a stoic yet vulnerable expression on her countenance. The somber tones of ash and dark gray reflect the melancholic character of the subject who seems to be wrestling with loneliness, or hunger, or pain, perhaps, and a weary anticipation of an unknown person or event.

In "Manang Quintet," with a weave-like composition of five blind women strumming their string instruments – a common means of livelihood for handicapped people in the metropolis – the repetition of images evokes the rhythm of the unheard melody that they are playing. Unlike other works where his subjects’ emotions are depicted through the use of distorted features, the sentiments of two of the women are obscured by the dark shades that they have donned, in a seeming attempt to hide them from view.

These two inkwash paintings are representative of Olmedo’s black-and-white works which display a literal and figuratively transparency. He strips out the trappings of material embellishments to articulate the fear and the poignancy behind external appearances. He tears off the veneer of flesh and bone to bare the inner being of his subjects’ feelings, reflective people who are all subject to the demons of loneliness, melancholy, fear and anguish.

Aside from the inkwash paintings, there will be pen-and-ink sketches to be displayed at the Galleria Duemila art exhibit, some of which were utilized as illustrations for the Body Book ( published in 1993 by GFC Books), the second book in a series on traditional Philippine culture, basically a literary dissection of the human body which has given rise to public perceptions that hold the key to an understanding of the Filipino psyche.

However, as works repositioned within the context of an art exhibit, Olmedo’s sketches go beyond being simply illustrative in nature and assume a separate aesthetic when viewed as individual works of art. Human bodies, as he depicts them, externalize being and give the viewer insights into the Pinoy’s soul, with subtle touches of tongue-in-cheek humor and irony. Sans the literary exposition of the book, the sketches may be perceived as independent commentaries on human bodies representing spaces where emotions and feelings resonate.

Thus, poignant contradictions and discordant notes resound in the sketches. One of these, for example, depicts three hands taking turns at fingering a piano’s ivory keys. Upon closer inspection, however, one realizes that these are the hands of a disabled person with two fingers missing, and that of a young child exhibiting extraordinary virtuosity. Another sketch represents a child’s seemingly harmless game of luksong tinik as an ominous and intimidating venture. The outlines of three outstretched, formidable-looking hands dominate the pictorial space. In the background, a little girl breaks into a run and prepares for the big leap, with fear written all over her face. The resultant impact on the viewer is one of intense psychological tension.

Onib Olmedo‘s paintings were a total departure from the happy paintings that Filipinos had been exposed to since the 1940s. The Philippine art scene in the late Sixties and the early Seventies was dominated by pretty paintings which celebrated the bright and colorful side of Philippine life. The type of art that was then in vogue was genre art, featuring still lifes and landscape scenes that captured on canvas the charm and enchantment of life in the countryside. Among the favorite subjects then were fiestas, town rituals, festive figures and motifs from indigenous cultures.

Thus, when Olmedo burst upon the Philippine art scene, the uninitiated found his works horrendous and repugnant. Olmedo’s career was launched with a series of paintings created in the late Sixties and exhibited in 1971 in an art show which revolved around the theme, "Singkong Suka." In this art exhibit, Olmedo created "sour-vinegar" interpretations of the denizens of Sampaloc, using their faces as vehicles for his psychological probes and explorations of the soul of the common man – the inner turmoil being experienced by his psyche. In a subsequent art exhibit entitled Beinteng Suka, he further expounded on this theme, creating a virtual gallery of the lost and dispossessed by depicting people who exuded an aura of spiritual isolation and psychic devastation.

The artist espoused the tenets of figurative expressionism which, in the Sixties and Seventies, did not have any appeal for Filipinos. His works were not beautiful in the classical sense of the term. They were characterized by dark, somber and depressing tones. In some of his paintings, Olmedo broke all the rules, disregarding the traditional principles and techniques of composition, color and form.

In the mid- and late Seventies, the Filipino public cringed from Olmedo’s paintings which portrayed emaciated individuals with gaunt faces and the intense look of the deluded. Their features were extremely grotesque and distorted. In their eyes, viewers could perceive the profound sadness, grief and alienation of people who were experiencing the throes of existentialist angst.

In the Eighties and Nineties, however, his art had come of age. He was catapulted into national fame, with his art exhibits enjoying unprecedented success. The adulation shown by the public for Olmedo’s work marked a new era in the history of Philippine art when Filipino viewers became more sophisticated and discerning, and began to understand the nuances of art, appreciating paintings for their cathartic value.

Onib Olmedo died in 1996 when he was only 59 years old, but he had reached the apex of his career, earning not only critical acclaim but also commercial success and the public’s appreciation for his figurative expressionist art, thus emerging as one of the major Filipino artists of the 20th century.

For inquiries, visit Galleria Duemila at the Artwalk, fourth level, SM Megamall A, Ortigas Complex, call 634-32-61, 831-99-90, telefax 633-66-87, 833-98-15 or e-mail the gallery at duemila @mydestiny.net or duemila@ info. com. ph. Log on to www. galleriaduemila.com.